On April 4th, residents of the rebel-held city Khan Sheikhoun in Idlib province, Syria were attacked with chemical weapons. Trump quickly seized on this Syrian catastrophe as an opportunity.

Prior to any kind of formal investigation, The White House determined that the Assad regime was responsible for the attack, with Trump flip-flopping on a statement made less than a week beforehand by his Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley who stated that Assad’s removal was “no longer a priority”.

On April 5th Trump removed Stephen Bannon from the National Security Council (NSC). Bannon championed Trump’s “America First” doctrine and was opposed to military action in Syria. Further, the move appeased the liberal establishment that was critical of Bannon’s fascistic “alt-right” and White supremacist associations.

Thus, after neutralizing opposition from within (Steve Bannon) and instilling the appropriate local propaganda (Sean Spicer), a strike on Syria would align Trump with establishment conservatives and neoliberals, as well as the corporate media.

But what did Syria’s immediate neighbor and America’s closest ally in the Middle East – Israel – think of a strike so close to home? Israeli support is fundamental to the survival, success and popularity of American Presidents, and Trump knows this well.

Israeli Propaganda

“Wall to wall support in Israel for US attack on Syria” claimed Gil Hoffman of the Jerusalem Post in a recent piece that laid out a seemingly rare case of political agreement in Israel, whereby Netanyahu’s government coalition and its opposition were unanimous in their support of Donald Trump’s decision to bomb Assad’s army. From Zehava Gal-On (Meretz), Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union) and Tzipi Livni (Zionist Union) to Oren Hazan (Likud), Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) and Moti Yogev (Bayit Yehudi) the Israeli political spectrum was presented as lock, stock and barrel behind Donald Trump.

But does such a consensus really exist throughout the entirety of the Israeli political spectrum?

A closer look at the article reveals that by “wall to wall support” the right-wing Jerusalem Post only considered Zionist parties, while completely ignoring the Arab Joint List, no small party at 13 mandates making it the third largest in the Israeli Knesset.

In contrast to the uniform Zionist support for Trump, the subtleties of opinion and disagreements within the Joint List faithfully echo the long-lasting and ongoing worldwide debate over the war in Syria. Thus, the omission of The Joint List from the Jerusalem Post’s pro-Trump propaganda piece was clearly not an oversight, but meant to convey unanimous Israeli support for Trump’s aggressive tactics, while disregarding those who do not serve the expansionist Zionist objectives. After all, Assad represents a united Syria to which the occupied Golan Heights can theoretically be returned as a condition for peace. Further, Assad serves as a key ally of Israel’s mortal enemy Iran and a channel from which the Lebanese Shiite militia Hezbollah receives weapons from its Iranian benefactors.

Clearly, Trump’s gambit worked. For the price of 59 Tomahawk missiles, he managed to align himself with the DC establishment, recapture corporate media, distance himself from the controversial and fascistic Bannon and as an added bonus, increase his popularity among American Jews and Israelis. His move threw egg in the face at those who underestimated his prowess and opportunism.

About Yoav Litvin

Yoav Litvin is a doctor of psychology/behavioral neuroscience, a documentary photographer and writer living in New York City. You can find him at yoavlitvin.com.

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9 Responses

I think Trump is more dupe than master manipulator. US intel agrees with the Russian account, that Syrian AF struck a jihadi CW store. It is also argued that McMaster has been controlling the flow of intel to Trump, and the CIA was notably absent from the photo ops. See pieces by veteran nat sec journo Robert Parry at Consortium News, and iviews with Phil Giraldi, retired CIA counterterrorism, and Patrick Lang, retired Defense Intel Agency.

I agree with Yoav that Trump struck mainly at his various domestic opponents. I don’t think he’s happy about disowning his base, no triumphant tweets about the Syria attack. Tillerson and McMaster both are saying that regime change is still not US policy.

tRUMP is nothing more than a television personality. He doesn’t understand anything outside of his special interests. There’s no way he’s been making policies since January 20th. He’s the mouthpiece for someone.

MY SNARKCASM: One can’t help but be in awe of Donald “Caligula” Trump’s incredibly devious machinations. What a despicable cretin he is!
It almost makes me want to become a terrorist. Fortunately however, I’m much too old for that sort of thing.

LEONARD COHEN:

They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom
For trying to change the system from within
I’m coming now, I’m coming to reward them
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin

I’m guided by a signal in the heavens
I’m guided by this birthmark on my skin
I’m guided by the beauty of our weapons
First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin . . .

JLD, Donald “Caligula” Trump similar to Caligula, but arguably more dangerous is a horse’s ass, and just like the team he [Trump]has assembled and similar to the US Senate has more horses asses than horses.

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